Time-driven placement and/or cloning of components for an integrated circuit

ABSTRACT

Techniques that facilitate time-driven placement and/or cloning of components for an integrated circuit are provided. In one example, a system includes an analysis component, a geometric area component and a placement component. The analysis component computes timing information and distance information between a set of transistor components of an integrated circuit. The geometric area component determines at least a first geometric area of the integrated circuit and a second geometric area of the integrated circuit based on the timing information and the distance information. The placement component determines a location for a latch component on the integrated circuit based on an intersection between the first geometric area and the second geometric area.

BACKGROUND

The subject disclosure relates to integrated circuits, and morespecifically, to physical design of an integrated circuit.

SUMMARY

The following presents a summary to provide a basic understanding of oneor more embodiments of the invention. This summary is not intended toidentify key or critical elements, or delineate any scope of theparticular embodiments or any scope of the claims. Its sole purpose isto present concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the moredetailed description that is presented later. In one or more embodimentsdescribed herein, devices, systems, computer-implemented methods,apparatus and/or computer program products that facilitate time-drivenplacement and/or cloning of components for an integrated circuit aredescribed.

According to an embodiment, a system can comprise an analysis component,a geometric area component and a placement component. The analysiscomponent can compute timing information and distance informationbetween a set of transistor components of an integrated circuit. Thegeometric area component can determine at least a first geometric areaof the integrated circuit and a second geometric area of the integratedcircuit based on the timing information and the distance information.The placement component can determine a location for a latch componenton the integrated circuit based on an intersection between the firstgeometric area and the second geometric area.

According to another embodiment, a computer-implemented method isprovided. The computer-implemented method can comprise determining, by asystem operatively coupled to a processor, timing information anddistance information associated with a set of transistors of anintegrated circuit. The computer-implemented method can also comprisedetermining, by the system, at least a first geometric area of theintegrated circuit and a second geometric area of the integrated circuitbased on the timing information and the distance information.Furthermore, the computer-implemented method can comprise determining,by the system, a location for a sequencing element on the integratedcircuit based on an intersection between the first geometric area andthe second geometric area.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program product forimproving design of an integrated circuit can comprise a computerreadable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith.The program instructions can be executable by a processor and cause theprocessor to determine, by the processor, timing information anddistance information associated with a set of transistors for anintegrated circuit layout associated with an integrated circuit. Theprogram instructions can also cause the processor to determine, by theprocessor, at least a first geometric area of the integrated circuitlayout and a second geometric area of the integrated circuit layoutbased on the timing information and the distance information.Furthermore, program instructions can also cause the processor todetermine, by the processor, a location for a sequencing element on theintegrated circuit layout based on an intersection between the firstgeometric area and the second geometric area.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting systemthat includes an integrated circuit design component in accordance withone or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of another example, non-limitingsystem that includes an integrated circuit design component inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of yet another example, non-limitingsystem that includes an integrated circuit design component inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of yet another example, non-limitingsystem that includes an integrated circuit design component inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example, non-limiting system associated withtime-driven placement of a component for an integrated circuit inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example, non-limiting system associated withtime-driven placement and/or cloning of a component for an integratedcircuit in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example, non-limiting system associated with anintegrated circuit in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 8 illustrates another example, non-limiting system associated withan integrated circuit in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet another example, non-limiting system associatedwith an integrated circuit in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method for improving design of an integratedcircuit in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of another example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method for improving design of an integratedcircuit in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limitingoperating environment in which one or more embodiments described hereincan be facilitated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely illustrative and is notintended to limit embodiments and/or application or uses of embodiments.Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed orimplied information presented in the preceding Background or Summarysections, or in the Detailed Description section.

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like referenced numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea more thorough understanding of the one or more embodiments. It isevident, however, in various cases, that the one or more embodiments canbe practiced without these specific details.

An integrated circuit includes a set of transistor circuits formed onsemiconductor material. For instance, an integrated circuit can beformed by combining thousand of transistors into a semiconductorcomputer chip. Design of an integrated circuit generally involvesnumerous processes such as an architectural design process, a functionaldesign and logic design process, a circuit design process, a physicaldesign process, a fabrication process, etc. The physical design processgenerally includes partitioning, floorplanning, placement, clock treesynthesis, signal routing and/or timing closure related to physicaldesign of an integrated circuit. Placement of components generally hassignificant implications for timing associated with design of anintegrated circuit. For instance, placement of components on anintegrated circuit is often determined based on a wire-length betweencomponents. However, placement of components on an integrated circuitbased on a wire-length between components often leads to inefficienciesand/or performance limitations associated with the integrated circuit.

Embodiments described herein include systems, computer-implementedmethods, and computer program products that facilitate time-drivenplacement and/or cloning of components for an integrated circuit. Forexample, time-driven placement of a latch component on an integratedcircuit and/or time-driven cloning of a latch component on an integratedcircuit can be achieved to facilitate optimized timing characteristicsof an integrated circuit. A latch component can be sequencing circuitelement that stores state information associated with sequential logicfor a digital system. In an aspect, unified timing-driven placementand/or cloning of a latch component can be achieved. For instance, anoptimal location for a latch component on an integrated circuit can bedetermined. Additionally or alternatively, a latch component can becloned. The latch component can drive a first portion of an integratedcircuit (e.g., a first group of fanout gates that provide output to oneor more gate inputs). Furthermore, a cloned latch component can drive asecond portion of the integrated circuit (e.g., a second group of fanoutgates that provide output to one or more gate inputs). In an embodiment,timing information and distance information between a set of transistorcomponents of an integrated circuit can be computed. In an aspect,timing information and distance information between a set of transistorcomponents of an integrated circuit can be computed during a circuitdesign process for the integrated circuit. In one example, a slacktiming value can be computed between transistor components of anintegrated circuit. A slack timing value can be indicative of adifference between an actual time and a desired time for a timing pathbetween a first transistor component and a second transistor component.In another example, a pair-wise distance can be computed between a firsttransistor component and a second transistor component. Additionally, atleast a first geometric area of the integrated circuit and a secondgeometric area of the integrated circuit can be determined based on thetiming information and the distance information. Furthermore, a locationof a latch component on the integrated circuit can be determined basedon an intersection between the first geometric area and the secondgeometric area. As such, an optimal location of a latch component on anintegrated circuit can be determined, performance of the integratedcircuit can be improved, efficiency of the integrated circuit can beimproved, timing characteristics of the integrated circuit can beimproved, and/or power characteristics of the integrated circuit can beimproved. In another embodiment, the latch component can be cloned togenerate a cloned latch component. The cloned latch component can drivea portion of the set of transistors of the integrated circuit. As such,timing characteristics of the integrated circuit can be furtherimproved.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system100 that facilitates time-driven placement and/or cloning of componentsfor an integrated circuit in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. In various embodiments, the system 100 can be a designsystem associated with technologies such as, but not limited to, circuittechnologies, integrated circuit technologies, very-large-scaleintegration (VLSI) technologies, semiconductor technologies, processortechnologies, hardware technologies, digital technologies, machinelearning technologies, and/or other digital technologies. The system 100can employ hardware and/or software to solve problems that are highlytechnical in nature, that are not abstract and that cannot be performedas a set of mental acts by a human. Further, in certain embodiments,some of the processes performed may be performed by one or morespecialized computers (e.g., one or more specialized processing units, aspecialized computer with an integrated circuit design componentcomponent, etc.) for carrying out defined tasks related to machinelearning. The system 100 and/or components of the system 100 can beemployed to solve new problems that arise through advancements intechnologies mentioned above, computer architecture, and/or the like.One or more embodiments of the system 100 can provide technicalimprovements to circuit design systems, integrated circuit systems, VLSIsystems, semiconductor systems, processor systems, hardware systems,digital systems, fabrication systems, machine learning systems, and/orother systems. One or more embodiments of the system 100 can alsoprovide technical improvements to a processing unit (e.g., a processor)and/or an integrated circuit by improving processing performance of theintegrated circuit, improving processing efficiency of the integratedcircuit, improving timing characteristics of the integrated circuitand/or improving power efficiency of the integrated circuit.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 can include anintegrated circuit design component 102. As shown in FIG. 1, theintegrated circuit design component 102 can include an analysiscomponent 104, a geometric area component 106, and a placement component108. Aspects of the integrated circuit design component 102 canconstitute machine-executable component(s) embodied within machine(s),e.g., embodied in one or more computer readable mediums (or media)associated with one or more machines. Such component(s), when executedby the one or more machines, e.g., computer(s), computing device(s),virtual machine(s), etc. can cause the machine(s) to perform theoperations described. In an aspect, the integrated circuit designcomponent 102 can also include memory 110 that stores computerexecutable components and instructions. Furthermore, the integratedcircuit design component 102 can include a processor 112 to facilitateexecution of the instructions (e.g., computer executable components andcorresponding instructions) by the integrated circuit design component102. As shown, the analysis component 104, the geometric area component106, the placement component 108, the memory 110 and/or the processor112 can be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to one another inone or more embodiments. In an embodiment, the system 100 can furtherinclude an integrated circuit layout 114. The integrated circuit layout114 can be a geometric representation of an integrated circuit thatincludes at least a set of transistors 116. The set of transistors 116can be, for example, a set of transistor components that aresemiconductor devices employed to modify electronic signals associatedwith the integrated circuit.

The analysis component 104 can employ component data 118 to analyze oneor more characteristics of the integrated circuit layout 114 (e.g., oneor more characteristics associated with the set of transistors 116). Forinstance, the component data 118 can include information associated withthe set of transistors 116 such as, for example, a location of the setof transistors 116 on the integrated circuit layout 114,interconnections between the set of transistors 116, a total number oftransistors included in the set of transistors 116, specificationinformation for the set of transistors 116 and/or other informationassociated with the set of transistors 116. In an aspect, the analysiscomponent 104 can compute timing information between the set oftransistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated with theintegrated circuit. For instance, the analysis component 104 canestimate delay between the set of transistors 116 of the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. The analysiscomponent 104 can employ the component data 118 to compute the timinginformation. In an embodiment, the analysis component 104 can employ alinear delay model of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit to determine the timing information. For example,the analysis component 104 can employ a linear delay model of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit tocalculate interconnect delay between the set of transistors 116 of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit.The linear delay model can be a model that predicts linear delay for anetwork of connections on the integrated circuit layout 114 associatedwith the integrated circuit. The linear delay can be linearlyproportional to wire length with a scaling coefficient that is dependenton a metal layer of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit. The metal layer can be a layer of the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit that isemployed for routing of a network of connections on the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. The lineardelay model can also be a model that predicts impact of placement offuture components on the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit. For instance, the linear delay model can accountfor one or more buffer components to be inserted on the integratedcircuit layout 114 and/or can estimate buffering-aware interconnectdelay in response to the one or more buffer components.

Additionally or alternatively, the analysis component 104 can computedistance information between the set of transistors 116 of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit.For instance, the analysis component 104 can determine a wire lengthbetween the set of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit. The analysis component 104 canemploy the component data 118 to compute the distance information. In anembodiment, the analysis component 104 can employ a Manhattan distancetechnique to determine the distance information for the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. For instance,a Manhattan distance technique can be employed to estimate wire-lengthsbetween the set of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit. A Manhattan distance techniquecan employ a grid of horizontal paths and/or vertical paths to determinedistance (e.g., wire-lengths) between the set of transistors 116 of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit.The Manhattan distance technique can compute a sum of horizontal pathsand/or vertical paths to determine distance (e.g., wire-lengths) betweenthe set of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit.

In an embodiment, the analysis component 104 can compute the timinginformation and/or the distance information based on classifications,correlations, inferences and/or expressions associated with principlesof artificial intelligence. For instance, the analysis component 104 canemploy an automatic classification system and/or an automaticclassification process to calculate the timing information and/or thedistance information. In one example, the analysis component 104 canemploy a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g.,factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) to learn and/orgenerate inferences with respect to the timing information and/or thedistance information. In an aspect, the analysis component 104 caninclude an inference component (not shown) that can further enhanceautomated aspects of the analysis component 104 utilizing in partinference based schemes to facilitate learning and/or generatinginferences associated with the timing information and/or the distanceinformation. The analysis component 104 can employ any suitablemachine-learning based techniques, statistical-based techniques and/orprobabilistic-based techniques. For example, the analysis component 104can employ expert systems, fuzzy logic, SVMs, Hidden Markov Models(HMMs), greedy search algorithms, rule-based systems, Bayesian models(e.g., Bayesian networks), neural networks, other non-linear trainingtechniques, data fusion, utility-based analytical systems, systemsemploying Bayesian models, etc. In another aspect, the analysiscomponent 104 can perform a set of machine learning computationsassociated with calculation of the timing information and/or thedistance information. For example, the analysis component 104 canperform a set of clustering machine learning computations, a set oflogistic regression machine learning computations, a set of decisiontree machine learning computations, a set of random forest machinelearning computations, a set of regression tree machine learningcomputations, a set of least square machine learning computations, a setof instance-based machine learning computations, a set of regressionmachine learning computations, a set of support vector regressionmachine learning computations, a set of k-means machine learningcomputations, a set of spectral clustering machine learningcomputations, a set of rule learning machine learning computations, aset of Bayesian machine learning computations, a set of deep Boltzmannmachine computations, a set of deep belief network computations, and/ora set of different machine learning computations to obtain the timinginformation and/or the distance information.

The geometric area component 106 can determine at least a firstgeometric area of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated with theintegrated circuit and a second geometric area of the integrated circuitlayout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. The geometric areacomponent 106 can determine the first geometric area and the secondgeometric area based on the timing information and the distanceinformation. In one example, the first geometric area can be a firstdiamond shape and the second geometric area can be a second diamondshape. The first geometric area can be associated with a firsttransistor (e.g., a first gate) from the set of transistors 116 and thesecond geometric area can be associated with a second transistor (e.g.,a second gate) from the set of transistors 116. For instance, the firsttransistor (e.g., the first gate) can be located at a center of thefirst geometric area and the second transistor (e.g., the second gate)can be located at a center of the second geometric area. The geometricarea component 106 can determine a first size for the first geometricarea and a second size of the second geometric area based on the timinginformation and the distance information. In one example, the first sizecan be different than the second size. In another example, the firstsize can correspond to the second size. In an aspect, the geometric areacomponent 106 can determine a first initial size for the first geometricarea and a second initial size of the second geometric area based on thetiming information and the distance information. The geometric areacomponent 106 can also modify the first initial size for the firstgeometric area and the second initial size of the second geometric area.For example, the geometric area component 106 can incrementally increasethe first initial size for the first geometric area and the secondinitial size of the second geometric area until the first geometric areaand the second geometric area become abutted and/or intersect.

In an embodiment, the geometric area component 106 can determine thefirst geometric area associated with the integrated circuit and/or thesecond geometric area associated with the integrated circuit based onclassifications, correlations, inferences and/or expressions associatedwith principles of artificial intelligence. For instance, the geometricarea component 106 can employ an automatic classification system and/oran automatic classification process to determine the first geometricarea associated with the integrated circuit and/or the second geometricarea associated with the integrated circuit. In one example, thegeometric area component 106 can employ a probabilistic and/orstatistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysis utilitiesand costs) to learn and/or generate inferences with respect to the firstgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit and/or the secondgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit. In an aspect, thegeometric area component 106 can include an inference component (notshown) that can further enhance automated aspects of the geometric areacomponent 106 utilizing in part inference based schemes to facilitatelearning and/or generating inferences associated with the firstgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit and/or the secondgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit. The geometricarea component 106 can employ any suitable machine-learning basedtechniques, statistical-based techniques and/or probabilistic-basedtechniques. For example, the geometric area component 106 can employexpert systems, fuzzy logic, SVMs, Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), greedysearch algorithms, rule-based systems, Bayesian models (e.g., Bayesiannetworks), neural networks, other non-linear training techniques, datafusion, utility-based analytical systems, systems employing Bayesianmodels, etc. In another aspect, the geometric area component 106 canperform a set of machine learning computations associated withdetermining the first geometric area associated with the integratedcircuit and/or the second geometric area associated with the integratedcircuit. For example, the geometric area component 106 can perform a setof clustering machine learning computations, a set of logisticregression machine learning computations, a set of decision tree machinelearning computations, a set of random forest machine learningcomputations, a set of regression tree machine learning computations, aset of least square machine learning computations, a set ofinstance-based machine learning computations, a set of regressionmachine learning computations, a set of support vector regressionmachine learning computations, a set of k-means machine learningcomputations, a set of spectral clustering machine learningcomputations, a set of rule learning machine learning computations, aset of Bayesian machine learning computations, a set of deep Boltzmannmachine computations, a set of deep belief network computations, and/ora set of different machine learning computations to determine the firstgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit and/or the secondgeometric area associated with the integrated circuit.

The placement component 108 can determine a location for a latchcomponent on the integrated circuit layout 114 associated with theintegrated circuit based on an intersection between the first geometricarea and the second geometric area. For instance, the latch componentcan be placed at a location on the integrated circuit (e.g., theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit)where a first side of the first geometric area and a second side of thesecond geometric area abuts. A latch component can be a sequencingcircuit element that stores state information associated with sequentiallogic for a digital system. The placement component 108 can generatephysical design data 120 based on one or more locations for one or morelatch components determined by the placement component 108. For example,the physical design data 120 can include a location for one or morelatch components on the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit. In an embodiment, the analysis component 104 candetermine a slack timing value between the set of transistors 116 thatsatisfies a defined criterion. A slack timing value that satisfies adefined criterion can be, for example, an optimal slack timing value(e.g., a slack timing value with a lowest value) between the set oftransistors 116. A slack timing value can be indicative of a differencebetween an actual time and a desired time for a timing path between afirst transistor and a second transistor from the set of transistors116. Furthermore, the geometric area component 106 can determine atleast the first geometric area of the integrated circuit and the secondgeometric area of the integrated circuit based on the slack timingvalue. For example, the first size for the first geometric area and thesecond size for the geometric area can be determined based on the slacktiming value. In another embodiment, the geometric area component 106can determine a total number of geometric areas of the integratedcircuit based on a total number of transistors included in the set oftransistors 116. For example, a first geometric area can correspond to afirst transistor from the set of transistors 116, a second geometricarea can correspond to a second transistor from the set of transistors116, a third geometric area can correspond to a third transistor fromthe set of transistors 116, etc. In yet another embodiment, thegeometric area component 106 can determine a total number of geometricareas of the integrated circuit based on the timing information and thedistance information. For example, a total number of geometric areas ofthe integrated circuit can be increased or decreased based on the timinginformation and the distance information. In an aspect, the firstgeometric area can comprise a first portion of transistors from the setof transistors 116 and the second geometric area can comprise a secondportion of transistors from the set of transistors 116.

In certain embodiments, the placement component 108 can generate a userinterface to display at least a portion of the physical design data 120and/or the integrated circuit layout 114 in a human interpretableformat. For example, the placement component 108 can generate a userinterface to display, in a human interpretable format, the physicaldesign data 120 and/or the integrated circuit layout 114. Moreover, incertain embodiments, the placement component 108 can transmit thephysical design data 120 to one or more computing devices (e.g., one ormore computing devices associated with a display) via a network such as,but not limited to, a local area networks (LAN), a wide area network(WAN) such as the Internet, and/or a network that providesinterconnections for devices associated with a defined workspace. Theone or more computing devices can include, for example, a computingdevice, a computer, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a monitordevice, a smart device, a smart phone, a mobile device, a handhelddevice, a tablet, a wearable device, a portable computing device oranother type of device associated with a display. As such, an optimallocation of a latch component on an integrated circuit associated withthe integrated circuit layout 114 can be determined, performance of anintegrated circuit associated with the integrated circuit layout 114 canbe improved, efficiency of an integrated circuit associated with theintegrated circuit layout 114 can be improved, timing characteristics ofan integrated circuit associated with the integrated circuit layout 114can be improved, and/or power characteristics of an integrated circuitassociated with the integrated circuit layout 114 can be improved.

It is to be appreciated that the integrated circuit design component 102(e.g., the analysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, theplacement component 108, the timing component 202, the distancecomponent 204, the slack component 302 and/or the cloning component 402)performs time-driven placement and/or cloning of components for anintegrated circuit that cannot be performed by a human (e.g., is greaterthan the capability of a single human mind). For example, an amount ofdata processed, a speed of data processed and/or data types of dataprocessed by the integrated circuit design component 102 (e.g., theanalysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, the placementcomponent 108, the timing component 202, the distance component 204, theslack component 302 and/or the cloning component 402) over a certainperiod of time can be greater, faster and different than an amount,speed and data type that can be processed by a single human mind overthe same period of time. The integrated circuit design component 102(e.g., the analysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, theplacement component 108, the timing component 202, the distancecomponent 204, the slack component 302 and/or the cloning component 402)can also be fully operational towards performing one or more otherfunctions (e.g., fully powered on, fully executed, etc.) while alsoperforming the above-referenced time-driven placement and/or cloning ofcomponents for an integrated circuit. Moreover, physical design data(e.g., physical design data 120) generated by the integrated circuitdesign component 102 (e.g., the analysis component 104, the geometricarea component 106, the placement component 108, the timing component202, the distance component 204, the slack component 302 and/or thecloning component 402) can include information that is impossible toobtain manually by a user. For example, a type of information includedin the physical design data (e.g., physical design data 120), a varietyof information included in the physical design data (e.g., physicaldesign data 120), and/or optimization of the physical design data (e.g.,physical design data 120) can be more complex than information obtainedmanually by a user.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system200 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 200 includes the integrated circuit design component 102. Incertain embodiments, the system 200 also includes the integrated circuitlayout 114. The integrated circuit design component 102 can include theanalysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, the placementcomponent 108, the memory 110 and/or the processor 112. As shown in FIG.2, the analysis component 104 can include a timing component 202 and/ora distance component 204.

The timing component 202 can compute timing information between the setof transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit. In an aspect, the timing information can includea pair-wise comparison of times between transistors from the set oftransistors 116. For instance, the timing component 202 can computefirst timing information between a first transistor and a secondtransistor from the set of transistors 116, second timing informationbetween a third transistor and a fourth transistor from the set oftransistors 116, third timing information between a fifth transistor anda sixth transistor from the set of transistors 116, etc. The timinginformation can include, for example, a slack value indicative of adifference between an actual time and a desired time for a timing pathbetween the set of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit. In a non-limiting example, thetiming component 202 can compute a slack time between a source componentand a sink component (e.g., source/sink pairs) associated with the setof transistors 116. A source component can be a transistor that providesa current a sink component can be a transistor that receives a current.

In an embodiment, the timing component 202 can generate a linear delaymodel of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated with theintegrated circuit. For example, the timing component 202 can generate alinear delay model of the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit to facilitate calculation of interconnect delaybetween the set of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit. The linear delay model can be amodel that predicts linear delay for a network of connections on theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit.The linear delay can be linearly proportional to wire length with ascaling coefficient that is dependent on properties of a metal layer ofthe integrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integratedcircuit. The metal layer can be a layer of the integrated circuit layout114 associated with the integrated circuit that is employed for routingof a network of connections on the integrated circuit layout 114associated with the integrated circuit. Additionally or alternatively,the timing component 202 can predict impact of placement of futurecomponents on the integrated circuit layout 114 associated with theintegrated circuit. For instance, the timing component 202 can predictlinear delay by accounting for one or more buffer components to beinserted on the integrated circuit layout 114. In certain embodiments,the timing component 202 can predict impact of placement of futurecomponents on the integrated circuit layout 114 based onclassifications, correlations, inferences and/or expressions associatedwith principles of artificial intelligence. For example, the timingcomponent 202 can perform a set of clustering machine learningcomputations, a set of logistic regression machine learningcomputations, a set of decision tree machine learning computations, aset of random forest machine learning computations, a set of regressiontree machine learning computations, a set of least square machinelearning computations, a set of instance-based machine learningcomputations, a set of regression machine learning computations, a setof support vector regression machine learning computations, a set ofk-means machine learning computations, a set of spectral clusteringmachine learning computations, a set of rule learning machine learningcomputations, a set of Bayesian machine learning computations, a set ofdeep Boltzmann machine computations, a set of deep belief networkcomputations, and/or a set of different machine learning computations topredict impact of placement of future components on the integratedcircuit layout 114.

The distance component 204 can compute distance information between theset of transistors 116 of the integrated circuit layout 114 associatedwith the integrated circuit. In an aspect, the distance information caninclude pair-wise distances between transistors from the set oftransistors 116. For instance, the distance component 204 can computefirst distance information between a first transistor and a secondtransistor from the set of transistors 116, second distance informationbetween a third transistor and a fourth transistor from the set oftransistors 116, third distance information between a fifth transistorand a sixth transistor from the set of transistors 116, etc. The timinginformation can include, for example, a wire length value indicative ofa length of a wire between the set of transistors 116 of the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. A wire canbe, for example, a physical electrical connection (e.g., copper line, analuminum line, a metallic trace, etc.) between a first transistor fromthe set of transistors 116 and a second transistor from the set oftransistors 116. In a non-limiting example, wire length can be a lengthof a wire between a source component and a sink component (e.g.,source/sink pairs) associated with the set of transistors 116. In anembodiment, the distance component 204 can employ a Manhattan distancetechnique to compute the distance information. For example, the distancecomponent 204 can employ a Manhattan distance technique to compute alength of wire between the set of transistors 116 of the integratedcircuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. A Manhattandistance technique can compute distance based on a grid of horizontalpaths and/or vertical paths between the set of transistors 116 of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit. Inone example, the Manhattan distance technique can compute a sum ofhorizontal paths and/or vertical paths to determine distance information(e.g., wire-lengths) between the set of transistors 116 of theintegrated circuit layout 114 associated with the integrated circuit.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system300 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 300 includes the integrated circuit design component 102. Incertain embodiments, the system 300 also includes the integrated circuitlayout 114. The integrated circuit design component 102 can include theanalysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, the placementcomponent 108, the memory 110 and/or the processor 112. As shown in FIG.3, the geometric area component 106 can include a slack component 302.The slack component 302 can employ a set of slack timing values todetermine a set of geographic areas for the integrated circuit layout114 associated with the integrated circuit. In an aspect, slackcomponent 302 can employ a pair-wise comparison of times betweentransistors from the set of transistors 116 to determine a set ofgeographic areas for the integrated circuit layout 114 associated withthe integrated circuit. In an embodiment, the slack component 302 canemploy the set of slack timing values to modify a size of geographicareas from the set of geographic areas for the integrated circuit layout114. For instance, the slack component 302 can increase a size ofgeographic areas from the set of geographic areas based on the set ofslack timing values. In another embodiment, the slack component 302 canemploy the set of slack timing values to determine when a firstgeographic area intersects and/or abuts a second geographic area. In ascenario where a first geographic area intersects and/or abuts a secondgeographic area, the first geographic area can be separated from thesecond geographic area. However, a line segment of the first geographicarea and the second geographic area can be shared when a firstgeographic area intersects and/or abuts a second geographic area.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system400 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 400 includes the integrated circuit design component 102. Incertain embodiments, the system 400 also includes the integrated circuitlayout 114. The integrated circuit design component 102 can include theanalysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, the placementcomponent 108, a cloning component 402, the memory 110 and/or theprocessor 112. The cloning component 402 can perform cloning of one ormore latch components to further improve timing characteristics of anintegrated circuit obtained from a optimized placement of a latchcomponent. For instance, the cloning component 402 can clone a latchcomponent to generate a cloned latch component. The cloning component402 can determine a second location for a second latch component on theintegrated circuit based on the intersection between the first geometricarea and the second geometric area. As such, the cloned latch componentcan drive a portion of the integrated circuit (e.g., a particularportion of fanout gates associated with the integrated circuit). In anaspect, the cloning component 402 can determine a number of latchcomponents to be cloned. The cloning component 402 can also determine aslack timing value that can be achieved by cloning a latch component.Furthermore, the cloning component 402 can determine a number oftransistor components to assign to a cloned latch component.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system500 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 500 includes a transistor component 502, a transistorcomponent 504 and a latch component 506. In one example, the transistorcomponent 502 and the transistor component 504 can be included in theset of transistors 116. The integrated circuit design component 102 canbe employed to determine placement of the latch component 506 withrespect to the transistor component 502 and the transistor component504. For instance, the integrated circuit design component 102 can beemployed to determine placement of the latch component 506 with respectto a wire 508 coupled to the transistor component 502 and the transistorcomponent 504. The wire 508 coupled to the transistor component 502 andthe transistor component 504 can be a physical electrical connection(e.g., copper line, an aluminum line, a metallic trace, etc.) betweenthe transistor component 502 and the transistor component 504. As such,the transistor component 502 and the latch component 506 can beseparated by a first wire length of the wire 508. Furthermore, thetransistor component 504 and the latch component 506 can be separated bya second wire length of the wire 508. In a non-limiting example, thelatch component 506 can be placed between the transistor component 502and the transistor component 504 such that a first slack timing valuebetween the transistor component 502 and the latch component 506 isequal to 0.3 nanoseconds and a second slack timing value between thetransistor component 504 and the latch component 506 is equal to 0.1nanoseconds. In an aspect, the latch component 506 can be an electroniccomponent (e.g., an electronic device) that stores a single bit of data.For instance, the transistor component 502 can provide data (e.g., a bitvalue) to a D latch input of the latch component 506 via the wire 508when a clock input associated with the latch component 506 is a logicalhigh. Furthermore, the latch component 506 (e.g., Q output of the latchcomponent 506) can provide output data to the transistor component 504via the wire 508. In another aspect, the integrated circuit designcomponent 102 can determine optimal placement of the latch component 506with respect to the transistor component 502 and the transistorcomponent 504 to provide improved timing characteristics and/or powercharacteristics for an integrated circuit associated with the integratedcircuit layout 114.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system600 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 600 includes a latch component 602. The latch component 602can be electrically coupled to a transistor component 604, a set oftransistor components 606, and a set of transistor components 608. Inone example, the transistor component 604 can be a gate, the set oftransistor components 606 can be a first group of gates, and the set oftransistor components 608 can be a second group of gates. In anotherexample, the set of transistor components 606 can be a first set offanout gates and the set of transistor components 608 can be a secondset of fanout gates. The transistor component 604 can correspond to afirst portion of an integrated circuit, the set of transistor components606 can correspond to a second portion of an integrated circuit, and theset of transistor components 608 can correspond to a third portion of anintegrated circuit. During a cloning process 610 associated with thecloning component 402, the latch component 602 can be cloned into acloned latch component 612. As such, in response to the cloning process610, the latch component 602 can be electrically coupled to thetransistor component 604 and the set of transistor components 606.Furthermore, in response to the cloning process 610, the cloned latchcomponent 612 can be electrically coupled to the transistor component604 and the set of transistor components 608. As such, in certainembodiments where the latch component 602 is driving multiple sets oftransistors (e.g., multiple groups of gates), the latch component 602can be cloned and placed to drive the multiple sets of transistors(e.g., the multiple groups of gates) separately. Therefore, with thecloning process 610, timing of the integrated circuit associated withthe transistor component 604, the set of transistor components 606 andthe set of transistor components 608 can be improved.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system700 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 700 can include a latch component 702. The latch component702 can be electrically coupled to a transistor component 704. Forinstance, the transistor component 704 can be a source component for thelatch component 702. In an embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the latchcomponent 702 can also be electrically coupled to a set of transistors706 and a set of transistors 708 a-m. The set of transistors 706 and theset of transistors 708 a-m can be a set of sink components for the latchcomponent 702. In an aspect, the latch component 702, the transistorcomponent 704, the set of transistors 706 and the set of transistors 708a-m can be implemented on an integrated circuit. Placement of the latchcomponent 702 with respect to the set of transistors 706 and the set oftransistors 708 a-m can be determined by the integrated circuit designcomponent 102 to facilitate optimized timing characteristics and/oroptimized power characteristics for the integrated circuit that includesthe latch component 702, the transistor component 704, the set oftransistors 706 and the set of transistors 708 a-m.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system800 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 800 can include the latch component 702. The latch component702 can be electrically coupled to the transistor component 704. Forinstance, the transistor component 704 can be a source component for thelatch component 702. In an embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the latchcomponent 702 can be electrically coupled to the set of transistors 706.The set of transistors 706 can be a set of sink components for the latchcomponent 702. Furthermore, the latch component 702 can be cloned togenerate a cloned latch component 802. The cloned latch component 802can be electrically coupled to the transistor component 704. Forinstance, the transistor component 704 can be also be a source componentfor the cloned latch component 802. The cloned latch component 802 canalso be electrically coupled to the set of transistors 708 a-m. The setof transistors 708 a-m can be a set of sink components for the clonedlatch component 802. In an aspect, the latch component 702, the clonedlatch component 802, the transistor component 704, the set oftransistors 706 and the set of transistors 708 a-m can be implemented onan integrated circuit. Placement of the latch component 702 and thecloned latch component 802 on the integrated circuit can be determinedby the integrated circuit design component 102 to facilitate optimizedtiming characteristics and/or optimized power characteristics for theintegrated circuit that includes the latch component 702, the clonedlatch component 802, the transistor component 704, the set oftransistors 706 and the set of transistors 708 a-m.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting system900 in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.Repetitive description of like elements employed in other embodimentsdescribed herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 900 can include a transistor component 902 and a transistorcomponent 904. The transistor component 902 and the transistor component904 can be implemented on an integrated circuit (e.g., an integratedcircuit associated with the integrated circuit layout 114). Thetransistor component 902 can be associated with a geographic area 906and the transistor component 904 can be associated with a geographicarea 908. For instance, the transistor component 902 can be located at acenter of the geographic area 906. Furthermore, the transistor component904 can be located at a center of the geographic area 908. In anembodiment, the integrated circuit design component 102 can modify asize of the geographic area 906 and the geographic area 908 until thegeographic area 906 and the geographic area 908 intersects and/or abutsat area 910. Furthermore, the integrated circuit design component 102can place a latch component for the transistor component 902 and thetransistor component 904 within the area 910 (e.g., at an intersectionof the geographic area 906 and the geographic area 908).

FIG. 10 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method 1000 for improving design of an integratedcircuit in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. At1002, timing information and distance information associated with a setof transistors of an integrated circuit are determined by a systemoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., by analysis component 104).The timing information can include, for example, a delay between the setof transistors of the integrated circuit. In one example, a linear delaymodel of a layout of the integrated circuit can be employed to determineinterconnect delay between the set of transistors. The distanceinformation can include, for example, a wire length between the set oftransistors. In one example, a Manhattan distance technique can beemployed to estimate wire-lengths between the set of transistors.

At 1004, at least a first geometric area of the integrated circuit and asecond geometric area of the integrated circuit are determined, by thesystem (e.g., by geometric area component 106), based on the timinginformation and the distance information. The first geometric area canbe associated with a first transistor from the set of transistors andthe second geometric area can be associated with a second transistorfrom the set of transistors. For instance, the first transistor from theset of transistors can be located at a center of the first geometricarea and the second transistor from the set of transistors can belocated at a center of the second geometric area. In an aspect, a sizeof the first geometric area and a size of the second geometric area canbe determined based on the timing information and the distanceinformation.

At 1006, it is determined (e.g., by analysis component 104) whether newtiming information and/or new distance information is available. If yes,methodology 1000 returns to 1002. If no, methodology 1000 proceed to1008.

At 1008, it is determined (e.g., by geometric area component 106)whether the first geometric area and/or the second geometric satisfy adefined criterion. If no, methodology 1000 returns to 1004. If yes,methodology 1000 proceeds to 1010.

At 1010, a location for a sequencing element on the integrated circuitis determined, by the system (e.g., by placement component 108), basedon an intersection between the first geometric area and the secondgeometric area. For instance, a location for a latch component on theintegrated circuit can be determined based on an intersection betweenthe first geometric area and the second geometric area. In one example,a size of the first geometric area and a size of the second geometricarea can be modified (e.g., increased or decreased) until the firstgeometric area intersects the second geometric area.

FIG. 11 illustrates a flow diagram of an example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method 1100 for improving design of an integratedcircuit in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. At1102, component data associated with an integrated circuit is obtainedby a system operatively coupled to a processor (e.g., by analysiscomponent 104). The component data associated with an integrated circuitcan include, for example, a location of a set of transistors associatedwith the integrated circuit, interconnections between a set oftransistors associated with the integrated circuit, a total number oftransistors included on the integrated circuit, specificationinformation for a set of transistors associated with the integratedcircuit and/or other information associated with a set of transistorsincluded on the integrated circuit.

At 1104, critical slack values between gates associated with theintegrated circuit are computed, by the system (e.g., by analysiscomponent 104), based on the component data. The critical slack valuescan indicative of differences between an actual time and a desired timefor a timing path between a set of transistors included on theintegrated circuit.

At 1106, it is determined (e.g., by analysis component 104) whether aparticular critical slack value from the critical slack values satisfiesa defined criterion. If no, methodology 1100 returns to 1104. If yes,methodology 1100 proceeds to 1108.

At 1108, at least a first geometric area of the integrated circuit and asecond geometric area of the integrated circuit are determined, by thesystem (e.g., by geometric area component 106), based on the particularslack value. For example, a size of the first geometric area and a sizeof the second geometric area can be determined based on the particularslack value. The first geometric area can be associated with a firsttransistor included on the integrated circuit and the second geometricarea can be associated with a second transistor included on theintegrated circuit.

At 1110, it is determined (e.g., by geometric area component 106)whether the first geometric area and/or second geometric area satisfiesa defined criterion. If no, methodology 1100 returns to 1108. If yes,methodology proceeds to 1112.

At 1112, a location for a sequencing element on the integrated circuitis determined, by the system (e.g., by placement component 108), basedon the first geometric area and the second geometric area. For instance,a location for a sequencing element on the integrated circuit can bedetermined based on an intersection between the first geometric area andthe second geometric area. In one example, a size of the first geometricarea and a size of the second geometric area can be modified (e.g.,increased or decreased) until the first geometric area intersects thesecond geometric area. The sequencing element can be, for example, alatch component.

For simplicity of explanation, the computer-implemented methodologiesare depicted and described as a series of acts. It is to be understoodand appreciated that the subject innovation is not limited by the actsillustrated and/or by the order of acts, for example acts can occur invarious orders and/or concurrently, and with other acts not presentedand described herein. Furthermore, not all illustrated acts can berequired to implement the computer-implemented methodologies inaccordance with the disclosed subject matter. In addition, those skilledin the art will understand and appreciate that the computer-implementedmethodologies could alternatively be represented as a series ofinterrelated states via a state diagram or events. Additionally, itshould be further appreciated that the computer-implementedmethodologies disclosed hereinafter and throughout this specificationare capable of being stored on an article of manufacture to facilitatetransporting and transferring such computer-implemented methodologies tocomputers. The term article of manufacture, as used herein, is intendedto encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readabledevice or storage media.

Moreover, because at least determining timing information, determiningdistance information, obtaining component data, determining geometricareas of an integrated circuit, determining a location for a sequencingelement (e.g., a latch component) on the integrated circuit, etc. areestablished from a combination of electrical and mechanical componentsand circuitry, a human is unable to replicate or perform processingperformed by the integrated circuit design component 102 (e.g., theanalysis component 104, the geometric area component 106, the placementcomponent 108, the timing component 202, the distance component 204, theslack component 302 and/or the cloning component 402) disclosed herein.For example, a human is unable to determine an optimal geometric areaassociated with an integrated circuit, determine an optimal location fora sequencing element (e.g., a latch component) on an integrated circuitbased on geometric area, perform a machine learning process associatedwith determining a geometric area and/or placement of a sequencingelement (e.g., a latch component) on an integrated circuit.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 12 as well as the following discussion are intendedto provide a general description of a suitable environment in which thevarious aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented. FIG.12 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limiting operatingenvironment in which one or more embodiments described herein can befacilitated. Repetitive description of like elements employed in otherembodiments described herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

With reference to FIG. 12, a suitable operating environment 1200 forimplementing various aspects of this disclosure can also include acomputer 1212. The computer 1212 can also include a processing unit1214, a system memory 1216, and a system bus 1218. The system bus 1218couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 1216 to the processing unit 1214. The processing unit 1214 can beany of various available processors. Dual microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1214. The system bus 1218 can be any of several types of busstructure(s) including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus or external bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of availablebus architectures including, but not limited to, Industrial StandardArchitecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), Extended ISA(EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Card Bus, Universal Serial Bus(USB), Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Firewire (IEEE 1394), and SmallComputer Systems Interface (SCSI).

The system memory 1216 can also include volatile memory 1220 andnonvolatile memory 1222. The basic input/output system (BIOS),containing the basic routines to transfer information between elementswithin the computer 1212, such as during start-up, is stored innonvolatile memory 1222. Computer 1212 can also includeremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media.FIG. 12 illustrates, for example, a disk storage 1224. Disk storage 1224can also include, but is not limited to, devices like a magnetic diskdrive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. The disk storage 1224 alsocan include storage media separately or in combination with otherstorage media. To facilitate connection of the disk storage 1224 to thesystem bus 1218, a removable or non-removable interface is typicallyused, such as interface 1226. FIG. 12 also depicts software that acts asan intermediary between users and the basic computer resources describedin the suitable operating environment 1200. Such software can alsoinclude, for example, an operating system 1228. Operating system 1228,which can be stored on disk storage 1224, acts to control and allocateresources of the computer 1212.

System applications 1230 take advantage of the management of resourcesby operating system 1228 through program modules 1232 and program data1234, e.g., stored either in system memory 1216 or on disk storage 1224.It is to be appreciated that this disclosure can be implemented withvarious operating systems or combinations of operating systems. A userenters commands or information into the computer 1212 through inputdevice(s) 1236. Input devices 1236 include, but are not limited to, apointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard,microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card,digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. Theseand other input devices connect to the processing unit 1214 through thesystem bus 1218 via interface port(s) 1238. Interface port(s) 1238include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and auniversal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1240 use some of the sametype of ports as input device(s) 1236. Thus, for example, a USB port canbe used to provide input to computer 1212, and to output informationfrom computer 1212 to an output device 1240. Output adapter 1242 isprovided to illustrate that there are some output devices 1240 likemonitors, speakers, and printers, among other output devices 1240, whichrequire special adapters. The output adapters 1242 include, by way ofillustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide ameans of connection between the output device 1240 and the system bus1218. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devicesprovide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)1244.

Computer 1212 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1244. The remote computer(s) 1244 can be a computer, a server, a router,a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peerdevice or other common network node and the like, and typically can alsoinclude many or all of the elements described relative to computer 1212.For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1246 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1244. Remote computer(s) 1244 islogically connected to computer 1212 through a network interface 1248and then physically connected via communication connection 1250. Networkinterface 1248 encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networkssuch as local-area networks (LAN), wide-area networks (WAN), cellularnetworks, etc. LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ringand the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to,point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packetswitching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL). Communicationconnection(s) 1250 refers to the hardware/software employed to connectthe network interface 1248 to the system bus 1218. While communicationconnection 1250 is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer 1212,it can also be external to computer 1212. The hardware/software forconnection to the network interface 1248 can also include, for exemplarypurposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modemsincluding regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems,ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

The present invention may be a system, a method, an apparatus and/or acomputer program product at any possible technical detail level ofintegration. The computer program product can include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention. The computer readable storage medium can be atangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by aninstruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium canbe, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, amagnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagneticstorage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specificexamples of the computer readable storage medium can also include thefollowing: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory(SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanicallyencoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groovehaving instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, isnot to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radiowaves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagneticwaves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network can comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device. Computer readable programinstructions for carrying out operations of the present invention can beassembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions,machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode,firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration data forintegrated circuitry, or either source code or object code written inany combination of one or more programming languages, including anobject oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or thelike, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programminglanguage or similar programming languages. The computer readable programinstructions can execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on theuser's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer can beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection can be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments,electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logiccircuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logicarrays (PLA) can execute the computer readable program instructions byutilizing state information of the computer readable programinstructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order toperform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions. These computer readable programinstructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. These computer readable program instructions can also be storedin a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, aprogrammable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to functionin a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage mediumhaving instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Thecomputer readable program instructions can also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational acts to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams can represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks can occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successioncan, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks cansometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program product thatruns on a computer and/or computers, those skilled in the art willrecognize that this disclosure also can or can be implemented incombination with other program modules. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. thatperform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract datatypes. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theinventive computer-implemented methods can be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including single-processor ormultiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframecomputers, as well as computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., PDA,phone), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrialelectronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can also be practicedin distributed computing environments in which tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. However, some, if not all aspects of this disclosure can bepracticed on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules can be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “interface,” and the like, can refer to and/or can include acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational machinewith one or more specific functionalities. The entities disclosed hereincan be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software,software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, butis not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor,an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components canreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component canbe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In another example, respective components can execute fromvarious computer readable media having various data structures storedthereon. The components can communicate via local and/or remoteprocesses such as in accordance with a signal having one or more datapackets (e.g., data from one component interacting with anothercomponent in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a networksuch as the Internet with other systems via the signal). As anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionalityprovided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electroniccircuitry, which is operated by a software or firmware applicationexecuted by a processor. In such a case, the processor can be internalor external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of thesoftware or firmware application. As yet another example, a componentcan be an apparatus that provides specific functionality throughelectronic components without mechanical parts, wherein the electroniccomponents can include a processor or other means to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. In an aspect, a component can emulate anelectronic component via a virtual machine, e.g., within a cloudcomputing system.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form. As used herein, the terms “example”and/or “exemplary” are utilized to mean serving as an example, instance,or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matterdisclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, anyaspect or design described herein as an “example” and/or “exemplary” isnot necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplarystructures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

As it is employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Further, processors can exploit nano-scalearchitectures such as, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dotbased transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimize space usageor enhance performance of user equipment. A processor can also beimplemented as a combination of computing processing units. In thisdisclosure, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “data store,” datastorage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storagecomponent relevant to operation and functionality of a component areutilized to refer to “memory components,” entities embodied in a“memory,” or components comprising a memory. It is to be appreciatedthat memory and/or memory components described herein can be eithervolatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation,nonvolatile memory can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM(PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory, or nonvolatile random access memory (RAM) (e.g.,ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM). Volatile memory can include RAM, which canact as external cache memory, for example. By way of illustration andnot limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM),direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), andRambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memorycomponents of systems or computer-implemented methods herein areintended to include, without being limited to including, these and anyother suitable types of memory.

What has been described above include mere examples of systems andcomputer-implemented methods. It is, of course, not possible to describeevery conceivable combination of components or computer-implementedmethods for purposes of describing this disclosure, but one of ordinaryskill in the art can recognize that many further combinations andpermutations of this disclosure are possible. Furthermore, to the extentthat the terms “includes,” “has,” “possesses,” and the like are used inthe detailed description, claims, appendices and drawings such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

The descriptions of the various embodiments have been presented forpurposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variationswill be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminologyused herein was chosen to best explain the principles of theembodiments, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory that storescomputer executable components; a processor that executes computerexecutable components stored in the memory, wherein the computerexecutable components comprise: a placement component that: determines afirst location for a first latch component on the integrated circuitthat improves at least one timing characteristic of the integratedcircuit based on an intersection between a plurality of geometric areasof the integrated circuit, and presents an integrated circuit layoutwith the latch component at the location on the integrated circuit; anda cloning component that clones the first latch component to generate asecond latch component, and determines a second location for the secondlatch component on the integrated circuit based on the intersectionbetween the plurality of geometric areas.
 2. The system of claim 1,further comprising a geometric area component that determines theplurality of geometric areas of the integrated circuit based on timinginformation and distance information between a set of transistorcomponents of the integrated circuit.
 3. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising an analysis component that determines a slack timing valuebetween the set of transistor components that satisfies a definedcriterion, and wherein the geometric area component determines theplurality of geometric areas of the integrated circuit based on theslack timing value.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the cloningcomponent determines a first set of transistor components associatedwith the first latch component and a second set of transistor componentsassociated with the second latch component based on the intersectionbetween the plurality of geometric areas.
 5. The system of claim 2,wherein the geometric area component determines a total number ofgeometric areas of the integrated circuit based on the timinginformation and the distance information.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein a first geometric area of the plurality of geometric areascomprises a first portion of transistors from the set of transistorcomponents and a second geometric area of the plurality of geometricareas comprises a second portion of transistors from the set oftransistor components.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the locationfor the latch component facilitates optimized timing characteristics forthe integrated circuit.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein placementcomponent determines the timing information and the distance informationbased on an analysis of the integrated circuit layout.
 9. Acomputer-implemented method, comprising: determining, by a systemoperatively coupled to a processor, a location for a sequencing elementbetween a first transistor and a second transistor from a set oftransistors on the integrated circuit that improves at least one timingcharacteristic of the integrated circuit based on an intersectionbetween a plurality of geometric areas of the integrated circuit; andpresenting, by the system, an integrated circuit layout with thesequencing element at the location on the integrated circuit.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising: determining,by the system, the plurality of geometric areas of the integratedcircuit based on timing information and distance information between theset of transistor components of the integrated circuit.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising:determining, by the system, a slack timing value between the set oftransistors that satisfies a defined criterion, wherein the determiningthe plurality of geometric areas comprises determining the plurality ofgeometric areas based on the slack timing value.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the sequencing elementis a first sequencing element and the location is a first location onthe integrated circuit, the computer-implemented method furthercomprising: cloning, by the system, the sequencing element to generate asecond sequencing element; and determining, by the system, a secondlocation for a second sequencing element on the integrated circuit basedon the intersection between the plurality of geometric areas.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 12, further comprising:determining, by the system, a first subset of the set of transistors forthe first sequencing element based on the intersection between theplurality of geometric areas; and determining, by the system, a secondsubset of the set of transistors associated with the second sequencingelement based on the intersection between the plurality of geometricareas.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, furthercomprising: determine, by the system, the timing information and thedistance information based on an analysis of the integrated circuitlayout.
 15. A computer program product for improving design of anintegrated circuit, the computer program product comprising a computerreadable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith,the program instructions executable by processor to cause the processorto: determine, by the processor, a location for a sequencing elementbetween a first transistor and a second transistor from a set oftransistors on the integrated circuit that improves at least one timingcharacteristic of the integrated circuit based on an intersectionbetween a plurality of geometric areas of the integrated circuit; andpresenting, by the processor, an integrated circuit layout with thesequencing element at the location on the integrated circuit.
 16. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the program instructionsare further executable by the processor to cause the processor to:determine, by the processor, the plurality of geometric areas of anintegrated circuit layout based on timing information and distanceinformation associated with the set of transistors of the integratedcircuit.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein theprogram instructions are further executable by the processor to causethe processor to: determine, by the processor, a slack timing valuebetween the set of transistors that satisfies a defined criterion; anddetermine, by the processor, the plurality of geometric areas of theintegrated circuit based on the slack timing value.
 18. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein the sequencing element is a firstsequencing element and the location is a first location on theintegrated circuit, and wherein the program instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the processor to: duplicate, by theprocessor, the first sequencing element to generate a second sequencingelement; and determine, by the processor, a second location for a secondsequencing element on the integrated circuit based on the intersectionbetween the plurality of geometric areas.
 19. The computer programproduct of claim 18, wherein the program instructions are furtherexecutable by the processor to cause the processor to: determine, by theprocessor, a first subset of the set of transistors for the firstsequencing element based on the intersection between the first geometricarea and the second geometric area; and determine, by the processor, asecond subset of the set of transistors associated with the secondsequencing element based on the intersection between the plurality ofgeometric areas.
 20. The computer program product of claim 15, whereinthe program instructions are further executable by the processor tocause the processor to: determine, by the processor, the timinginformation and the distance information based on an analysis of theintegrated circuit layout.